When I finished off the Hole Story Blog, Flapdoodle still had five holes that needed to be addressed and these holes were where the propeller shaft enters the boat and where the strut, that holds up the propeller, is attached to the hull.

When our boat was surveyed for insurance purposes it was suggested we take a closer look at the pitting in the propeller shaft. While Harry was quite convinced through scientific research and calculation that the shaft had life left in it, he decided to err on the side of caution and go ahead and have a new shaft machined. [OR he didn’t want me to say down the track that if it broke while at sea that he should have paid heed and had it replaced.]

This part of the story runs a little like the children’s cause and effect story- “If you give a mouse a cookie.”

If you own a boat , then you wish to have it insured, to have it insured you require a boat survey, to please the surveyor you attend to his recommendations, to meet the recommendations you have the propeller pulled, because the propeller shaft has pits you agree to pay to have a new one machined, while replacing the shaft you may as well buy a new stuffing box, the new stuffing box is on back order so you play the waiting game again, when the part arrives the propeller shaft needs to be installed and re-aligned, to re-align the propeller the rusted engine mount needs to be replaced, there are four engine mounts in all perhaps they should all be replaced while we are at it … and so the never-ending story continues.

[We actually replaced two of the engine mounts. Above is the new and the old. The remaining two original engine mounts are in reasonable condition presently]

PAUSE BUTTON We now have the new items installed and the last part of this mini chapter of the big story is to put Flapdoodle back in the water, watch for leaks, and have the propeller shaft fine tuned/aligned. What was to be a 5 day, adventure extended to 17 days. Now I can get back to a higher class of comfort with a running fridge rather than ice in a cooler, three steps rather than an extension ladder for boarding, and having a galley sink that drains instead of using a bucket.

The jury is out, while we wait to see if the new dripless shaft seal is in fact a good choice over the alternative with drips, pedro hose and stuffing box. There are a lot of age old debates in the boating community including dripless shaft seal versus stuffing box, monohull versus a catamaran, electric head versus manual head, tiller versus wheel etc. It is akin to when one decides to start a family. Everyone has their own experiences, expertise, and advice which they wish to share. One has to listen politely and do what one’s gut feeling goes with or what the science dictates. It may not be a case of right or wrong [according to Harry it usually is], but rather a choice to make from two possibilities, both of which has positive and negative elements.

As my fortune cookie message predicted –

“ALL THINGS COME TO HIM WHO WAITS”